"I saw exactly one picture of Marx and on"

“I saw exactly one picture of Marx and one of Lenin in my whole stay, but it’s been a long time since ideology had anything to do with it. Not without cunning, Fat Man and Little Boy gradually mutated the whole state belief system into a debased form of Confucianism, in which traditional ancestor worship and respect for order become blended with extreme nationalism and xenophobia. Near the southernmost city of Kaesong, captured by the North in 1951, I was taken to see the beautifully preserved tombs of King and Queen Kongmin. Their significance in F.M.-L.B. cosmology is that they reigned over a then unified Korea in the 14th century, and that they were Confucian and dynastic and left many lavish memorials to themselves. The tombs are built on one hillside, and legend has it that the king sent one of his courtiers to pick the site. Second-guessing his underling, he then climbed the opposite hill. He gave instructions that if the chosen site did not please him he would wave his white handkerchief. On this signal, the courtier was to be slain. The king actually found that the site was ideal. But it was a warm day and he forgetfully mopped his brow with the white handkerchief. On coming downhill he was confronted with the courtier’s fresh cadaver and exclaimed, ‘Oh dear.’ And ever since, my escorts told me, the opposite peak has been known as ‘Oh Dear Hill.’I thought this was a perfect illustration of the caprice and cruelty of absolute leadership, and began to phrase a little pun about Kim Jong Il being the ‘Oh Dear Leader,’ but it died on my lips.”

- Christopher Hitchens,

Tag: 14th-century, absolutism, caprice, communism, confucianism, cruelty, farce, ideology, karl-marx, kim-il-sung, kim-jong-il, korea, nationalism, north-korea, queen-noguk, religion, tomb-of-king-kongmin, totalitarianism, veneration-of-the-dead, vladimir-lenin, xenophobia,

6

“Many millions of pregnancies—many if not most of which have each led to the birth of at least one child—were each used as nothing but a conspicuous means to a secret end called the evasion of abortion.”

- Mokokoma Mokhonoana,

Tag: abort, abortion, adage, adages, africa, african, anti-life, aphorism, aphorisms, axiom, axioms, birth, child, childfree, childless, children, church, churches, communism, conspicuous, deep, dictum, dictums, epigram, epigrams, evade, evasion, factories, factory, family-planning, funny, gnome, gnomes, humor, humorous, humour, industrialization, industrialize, industry, insightful, karl-marx, kid, kids, made-me-think, make-you-think, manufacture, manufacturing, maxim, maxims, means, philosopher, pregnancy, pregnant, pro-life, procreate, procreation, profound, proverb, proverbs, provoke-thought, quotation, quotations, quote, quote-of-the-day, quotes, religion, reproduce, reproduction, satire, satirical, satirist, satirists, saying, sayings, secret, secrets, selfish-selfishness, sex, sexual-intercourse, socialism, south-africa, south-african, thought-provoking, thoughtful, unprotected-sex,

1

“The world economy would collapse if a significant number of people were to realize and then act on the realization that it is possible to enjoy many if not most of the things that they enjoy without first having to own them.”

- Mokokoma Mokhonoana,

Tag: adage, adages, africa, african, aphorism, aphorisms, axiom, axioms, buy, buyer, buyers, capitalism, childfree, childless, collapse, communism, consumer, consumerism, consumers, credit, debt, deep, democracy, dictum, dictums, economies, economy, enjoy, epigram, epigrams, funny, gnome, gnomes, humor, humorous, humour, insightful, karl-marx, made-me-think, make-you-think, marxism, materialism, maxim, maxims, own, ownership, philosopher, profound, proverb, proverbs, provoke-thought, quotation, quotations, quote, quote-of-the-day, quotes, realization, realize, satire, satirical, satirist, satirists, saying, sayings, selfish-selfishness, socialism, socialist, socialists, south-africa, south-african, thought-provoking, thoughtful, world-economies,

2

“Calvin:”It says here that ‘religion is the opiate of the masses.’…what do you suppose that means?”Television: “…it means that Karl Marx hadn’t seen anything yet”

- Bill Watterson,

Tag: calvin-and-hobbes, karl-marx, philosophy, television,

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All Quotes By Tag: Karl-marx